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Detection of esophageal carcinoma using single-photon emission computed tomography of thallium-201: a preliminary
1Department of Nuclear Medicine, China Medical College Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Abstract:
The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate the potential usefulness of thallium-201 (Tl-201) in detecting esophageal carcinoma. A total of 15 patients with esophageal carcinoma were arranged for Tl-201 single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of the chest. Thirteen of the patients had epidermoid carcinoma and two had adenocarcinoma. Meanwhile, 7 normal controls without any history of esophageal disease also accepted Tl-201 SPECT of the chest for comparison. From the 15 patients, Tl-201 chest SPECT detected esophageal carcinoma in 13 (86.7%) but not in 2 (13.3%) patients with epidermoid carcinoma. In contrast, all 7 normal controls (100.0%) had negative results of Tl-201 chest SPECT. Our study showed that the Tl-201 chest SPECT scan could be considered as a non-invasive useful imaging method in detection of esophageal carcinoma.